Canberra teachers have renewed calls for better conditions and more qualified psychologists in schools as they prepare to consider a new enterprise agreement being put forward by the ACT government.
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The Australian Education Union ACT said members would hold a special branch meeting after a revised offer which was expected to be sent out to teachers and school leaders on Thursday.
Teachers knocked back the government's March offer which included a 12 per cent pay rise over four years and a minimum of 20 hours' workload reduction for each teacher.
In May, they passed a motion of no confidence in ACT Education Minister Joy Burch after a year of negotiations over the new enterprise bargaining agreement.
AEU ACT secretary Glenn Fowler said Thursday afternoon's meeting would be "well-attended" and representatives from most schools were expected.
Teachers are also voting in a ballot that closes next week to take protected industrial action as part of their campaign for a pay rise, fewer contact hours and a boost in professional development.
"We're getting closer but we're not there yet."
He said the government's lip service and words of agreement needed to be met with tangible action if teachers were to accept the new offer.
"The question for members will be do they think the resources on offer are enough to allow them to get on with the core business of teaching?
"Teachers don't want to work in silos any more. The future is around strong collaboration and that can't be done on the smell of an oily rag."
Mr Fowler hoped the new agreement would provide adequate resources that would take in reduced face-to-face teaching hours and allow time for professional development.
He said that would prevent teachers from getting caught up in non-teacher jobs and "administrivia" that took away from their core education role.
Members also wanted more qualified pyschologists in Canberra's public schools. Currently, there is a ratio of one school psychologist for every 1000 students.
"We maintain that it's not enough for a school of 800 students to have a psychologist at school three days a week.
"We are hopeful that the government listened to us."
Mr Fowler said a meeting with Chief Minister Andrew Barr had been productive and he hoped the government had listened to their requests.
He said members would be able to vote in favour of industrial action if they felt the new offer was unsatisfactory.
A spokesman for Ms Burch referred questions about the enterprise bargaining process to the Education and Training Directorate.
"We continue to work closely with the AEU and hope the enterprise bargaining will be resolved shortly," a directorate spokeswoman said.
